


I will become yours and you will become mine

by iwillnotbecaged



Series: SamSteve Week 2016 [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, But not exactly, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-08-08 23:34:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7777996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwillnotbecaged/pseuds/iwillnotbecaged
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where soulmates share a mark, Sam Wilson doesn't have one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I will become yours and you will become mine

**Author's Note:**

> For SamSteve Week 2016
> 
> Day 3 Prompt - Soulmate AU
> 
> Title from "I Choose You" by Sara Bareilles

Sam was born without a mark.

This was unremarkable because having a mark at birth was extraordinarily rare. Sure, it happened in fairy tales and movies, in stories where fate and destiny were real and inescapable. Everyone claimed to know someone who knew someone who had been born with a mark, but more and more people were beginning to think it was just a legend after all.

Sam turned 12, and he still did not have a mark.

This also was unremarkable. Some people’s marks appeared at a young age, but it was becoming a rare phenomenon. It had been much more common in centuries past, but as society adapted and changed, it seemed the marks did too. Sam wouldn’t have thought anything of it if his best friend’s mark hadn’t appeared earlier that year. They were still best friends, of course, but Sam couldn’t help but feel like the ground had somehow shifted underneath him.

Sam turned 20, and he still did not have a mark.

He lay on his bed with his head in his mama’s lap, shaking with sobs. Leila’s mark had appeared the week before and she didn’t see the point in continuing their relationship when it was bound to end anyway. Sam normally didn’t allow the absence of a mark to bother him, but his heart was broken and he knew his mama wouldn’t judge him.

“I don’t wanna be alone, ma.”

“Shhh, darlin’. I’ve got you. You just keep lovin’ people with that big heart of yours and you won’t be alone.”

“It’s not the same.”

“I know, sweetheart. I know. But you listen here — some people will waste their whole lives waiting to find the person who shares their mark. They’ll be looking and looking and miss all the wonderful things that are right in front of them. I know it’s hard. It’s gonna get harder. But you have so much joy and love in you; don’t let a mark or the lack of one rob you of it.”

Sam turned 25, and he was battered and bruised, but he still did not have a mark.

He was tired and hot, but the latest test flight with his wings had gone pretty damn perfectly, so he couldn’t bring himself to care. He was headed towards the phone tent when Riley came up behind him and slung an arm around his neck.

“We still gonna grab drinks tonight, Sammy?”

“Absolutely. I just gotta call my ma first.”

Riley laughed. “You are such a mama’s boy.”

“You say that like it’s an insult.” Sam grinned and shoved Riley away. “Go shower. You stink.”

“Uh huh, cause you’re just a bouquet of roses at the moment.”

Sam flipped him off and kept walking. After the obligatory reassurances of his good health and questions about the current church gossip, he finally asked the question that had been nagging in the back of his mind.

“Hey mama? Have you ever — I mean, is it possible — do you think you can _choose_ a soulmate?”

“Hmmm.” His mama considered the question. “You know that I think you can choose to love people and commit to people no matter what. But I don’t think that’s what you’re getting at.”

“No, not really. Does a mark ever appear after you’ve already chosen someone?”

“I don’t know that I’ve ever heard of it happening, but I guess anything is possible.” There was silence on the line for a moment. “You asking because of Riley?”

Sam nodded, even though she couldn’t see him. “Yeah, yeah I am. He doesn’t have a mark yet either and we just click and I was wondering if maybe it was possible to choose the person you want to share a mark with.”

“Well, you two could always get matching tattoos.” He could hear her smile through the phone.

Sam turned 30, and he didn’t have Riley, he didn’t have a place in the Air Force, and he still did not have a mark.

It was a long time before he felt enough to care.

Sam turned 35, and he still did not have a mark, but he did have a pair of fugitives in his kitchen and a file folder on the Falcon program he could use as a resume.

After the dust cleared, Sam had a brainwashed assassin to track down and an inconvenient crush on a living legend. He was sure nothing would come of it. Steve and Bucky had probably shared a mark since they were kids running around Brooklyn and getting into fist fights together. And sure, he’d never actually seen Steve’s mark, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there.

It wasn’t until a night in another featureless hotel room in yet another city that Steve brought it up.

“So, um, feel free to tell me I’m outta line, but where is your mark? I figure I would have seen it by now.”

Sam stiffened and stopped digging through his bag. “Oh, um, I don’t have one.”

“Oh! I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

He turned around and sure enough, Steve was giving him that kicked puppy face he got sometimes. “It’s alright. No way you could have known.”

“I just — I figured you and Riley…” Steve trailed off.

“Nah. I loved him and for awhile I hoped that maybe, but it never happened.” He gave a small laugh that he hoped didn’t sound too bitter. “Not all of us can be you and Bucky.”

Steve’s eyes went wide. “Wait, you thought — no, Sam. Bucky and I don’t share a mark. And before you ask, neither did me and Peggy.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “That’s kinda why I asked? I don’t have a mark at all, and well, I don’t know a lot of people without one.”

“Well, now you do. We can be alone together.” Sam’s half smile felt forced, but the softness in Steve’s eyes eased it a bit.

“That sounds really good to me.”

It didn’t take long for Sam to realize that not only was his crush not inconvenient, it was reciprocated. They criss-crossed the globe, growing closer to each other even as they seemed to never get any closer to finding Barnes. They stopped requesting rooms with two double beds and instead made excellent use of a single king. Sam wasn’t sure if Steve thought about it, but he wondered if one morning he would wake up and finally find a mark. 

He never did though, and neither did Steve. They spent hours exploring every inch of each other’s skin, but it remained clear and unmarked.

They were in bed one night, curled towards each other, fingers intertwined, when Steve brought it up again.

“You still think about it, don’t you? Not having a mark?”

Sam studied the contrast of their hands rather than meet his eye. “Yeah, I do. I mean, I know it doesn’t really matter. That it doesn’t mean I’m broken or doomed to be alone or anything. I just wonder sometimes.”

“Yeah, I get that.” Steve raised his hands and kissed the back of his knuckles. “I’ve been thinking—”

“Uh oh,” Sam teased.

“Hush, you. I’ve been thinking — why do we even let a mark decide for us who our soulmate is? I love you and I want to be with you and fuck the marks.”

Sam laughed and reached over to brush a thumb across Steve’s cheekbone. “That’s my Steve, always sticking it to the man.”

“I’m serious, Sam. Why shouldn’t we just choose each other? And who’s to say that we can’t?”

Sam studied Steve’s face. “You really mean that? You would choose me as your soulmate?”

“If you want me to. And if you would choose me back.” Steve looked uncertain and started to pull away. Sam wasn’t about to let that happen.

“Steve, look at me. Of course I want you to. And of course I choose you back.”

Steve’s smile was radiant as he pulled Sam closer. “Good. I love you and I choose you, Sam Wilson.”

“I love you and I choose you, Steve Rogers.” Sam kissed him, and it was a while longer before they finally went to sleep.

When Sam woke up in the morning, he didn’t even think to check for a mark.


End file.
